I saw this video awhile back on a friend's blog. As we are looking at houses for our move, we are also thinking about our financial and personal priorities. What do we need, vs. what are we used to? Our kids don't watch T.V. and yet even with a toy-commercial-free life they still think about the toys they don't have yet constantly.
Today I'm thinking about adding our precious E. to our family. I have seen her country, and her orphanage, and I'm trying to picture our life through her eyes. It is important to me for my kids to understand that while they dream of light sabers, Legos, and action figures, in so much of the world kids don't get enough to eat. When E. came to her orphanage (at 10) she weighed less than my 5 and 7 year-olds - and they are very normal for their age. There isn't a way to reconcile or justify that. In planning for our move, I'd like to make sure that our choices actually line up with our beliefs.
I felt like watching this again, and thought I'd share it...
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Fun little surprise
This morning I did some contract work for an agency in town. While I was giving the presentation, Chris and the boys got the mail. In our mailbox was a video of waiting kids from our agency. On it was our girl, E.!
G.J. called my cell phone to tell me (although he was so excited I couldn't understand him). By the time I got home they had watched it countless times and made a copy of it. The clip of her is very short, and all she says is her name. But it is so good to see her and hear her voice! She looks older already. Her smile and beautiful eyes are captivating, and Chris and I were both immediately relieved that we had done our dossier so quickly. If she was still waiting, I have no doubt she wouldn't be waiting for long. It was the first time Chris had seen her other than pictures - pretty powerful to hear your daughter speak for the first time.
Somehow she became a bit more real to us today. We are all so excited to go get her!
G.J. called my cell phone to tell me (although he was so excited I couldn't understand him). By the time I got home they had watched it countless times and made a copy of it. The clip of her is very short, and all she says is her name. But it is so good to see her and hear her voice! She looks older already. Her smile and beautiful eyes are captivating, and Chris and I were both immediately relieved that we had done our dossier so quickly. If she was still waiting, I have no doubt she wouldn't be waiting for long. It was the first time Chris had seen her other than pictures - pretty powerful to hear your daughter speak for the first time.
Somehow she became a bit more real to us today. We are all so excited to go get her!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Big News #2 - Our addition
Okay, we are ready to announce some more news!
We are expecting another child - and she's 10!
We are officially adopting a girl that I met in Ethiopia in April! We have been working on the process since I got back. We signed our official agreement last Monday, and our dossier left for Ethiopia a couple of days later. I can't post a picture of her yet because our agency asks that we not post pictures of kids on the internet until they are legally ours to respect confidentiality and the wishes of the Ethiopian government. She will be known on here as E. and I'll post pictures once we make it through court, which won't be for several months. She has a beautiful personality and spirit about her that shines through her eyes and her smile in her pictures. She is more beautiful to me every day...
We are very excited! She is a very sweet girl, and was new to the orphanage when I met her. I had an amazing spiritual experience on my second day there (which happened to be G.J.'s 7th birthday) and knew without a doubt that God was telling me that we were to adopt her specifically. After that, I tried to spend time with her when possible. She speaks some English, and has a very gentle spirit. The more time I spent with her, the more I started to feel my heart connecting to hers, and the more sure I was about her.
Chris and I talked from the airport in WA D.C., and then again after I got home. We started the process one step at a time, always praying that if we were on the wrong path, that the door would shut. We flew through the process without intending to. Each step has been a breeze so far (don't forget that we are used to foster licensing which was a very long process for us). We have spent lots of time thinking, talking, and praying about this decision. It is not one we felt like we could make lightly. We're a little too weathered from foster care to be naive about an older child under the best of circumstances. But we feel that this is the right decision for her and for us. We are looking forward to the changes she will bring, and we are praying that our experience of bringing kids into our family will help us hold her through the tough times and grief that she will surely experience.
So last week, about 10 weeks after requesting information from AAI, our paperwork was on its way to Ethiopia. The kids and I listened to Ethiopian music all day to celebrate our paperwork on that Fed Ex plane!
It is fun to think that she is in our thoughts as we make all of the coming decisions: new house, neighborhood, school, church, community... She will be part of all of those decisions even before she gets here. The timing has been amazing. Chris got his job offer after we got her file and needed to make our final decision. It was much easier to commit to her once we knew that we would have an income, and where we would be living!
Chris and I have been planning for all of us to go over together to get her, but with plane prices increasing, we shall see what we can financially swing. Now that our house is ready to show, I can get to work applying for adoption grants, since this clan doesn't have much extra! Right now we are waiting on our immigration approval, and then things will be completely official. Then we will be able to let her know that she has been chosen, and will be coming to Oregon!
We are expecting another child - and she's 10!
We are officially adopting a girl that I met in Ethiopia in April! We have been working on the process since I got back. We signed our official agreement last Monday, and our dossier left for Ethiopia a couple of days later. I can't post a picture of her yet because our agency asks that we not post pictures of kids on the internet until they are legally ours to respect confidentiality and the wishes of the Ethiopian government. She will be known on here as E. and I'll post pictures once we make it through court, which won't be for several months. She has a beautiful personality and spirit about her that shines through her eyes and her smile in her pictures. She is more beautiful to me every day...
We are very excited! She is a very sweet girl, and was new to the orphanage when I met her. I had an amazing spiritual experience on my second day there (which happened to be G.J.'s 7th birthday) and knew without a doubt that God was telling me that we were to adopt her specifically. After that, I tried to spend time with her when possible. She speaks some English, and has a very gentle spirit. The more time I spent with her, the more I started to feel my heart connecting to hers, and the more sure I was about her.
Chris and I talked from the airport in WA D.C., and then again after I got home. We started the process one step at a time, always praying that if we were on the wrong path, that the door would shut. We flew through the process without intending to. Each step has been a breeze so far (don't forget that we are used to foster licensing which was a very long process for us). We have spent lots of time thinking, talking, and praying about this decision. It is not one we felt like we could make lightly. We're a little too weathered from foster care to be naive about an older child under the best of circumstances. But we feel that this is the right decision for her and for us. We are looking forward to the changes she will bring, and we are praying that our experience of bringing kids into our family will help us hold her through the tough times and grief that she will surely experience.
So last week, about 10 weeks after requesting information from AAI, our paperwork was on its way to Ethiopia. The kids and I listened to Ethiopian music all day to celebrate our paperwork on that Fed Ex plane!
It is fun to think that she is in our thoughts as we make all of the coming decisions: new house, neighborhood, school, church, community... She will be part of all of those decisions even before she gets here. The timing has been amazing. Chris got his job offer after we got her file and needed to make our final decision. It was much easier to commit to her once we knew that we would have an income, and where we would be living!
Chris and I have been planning for all of us to go over together to get her, but with plane prices increasing, we shall see what we can financially swing. Now that our house is ready to show, I can get to work applying for adoption grants, since this clan doesn't have much extra! Right now we are waiting on our immigration approval, and then things will be completely official. Then we will be able to let her know that she has been chosen, and will be coming to Oregon!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Big News #1 - The Move
I'm back! We have been busy, and it is time to let everyone know what we are up to!
Chris was in a leave replacement position this school year. It was the perfect opportunity at the perfect time, and was the best experience possible for him this spring. But in our county, school jobs have dried up since most of the levees didn't pass this year. So we knew we needed to broaden our horizons. After Ethiopia, I really felt like we were ready for a change in our lives. So change, here we come!
Chris has interviewed and considered jobs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nairobi, Kenya, Mt. Vernon, WA, Hillsboro, OR, Portland, OR, and McMinnville, OR. We have explored each of these possibilities in depth, and made trips to visit each of the cities (except for Nairobi!). Chris has accepted a postion in the Portland, OR area in a large school district. It is honestly the perfect job for him. If anyone who knows him was going to design the perfect job, this one would be it. Chris spent high school in the area, so it is a bit like going home for him. I, on the other hand, don't know a single soul there besides Chris' parents. But I have to say that living close to grandparents for the very first time sounds pretty good to me!
So we have been furiously working to get our house ready to sell. And praying it will sell quickly so we can make it down there by the end of the summer. We started with Craig's list, and it'll be listed on the MLS tomorrow. We are sad because this truly was our dream house. We did as much work on the building as our skills allowed, and every shrub, grass seed, and tree was chosen by one or both of us. The kids have spent the last 3 years perfecting their biking skills on our long dirt road with a bit of a hill. It has been the best possible place to have kids, which was our intention. SO - if you know anyone looking for a beautiful, peaceful place in Whatcom County, send them to check out our place at Northwest Retreat!!!
Starting over somewhere is scary, but we are hopeful that this will be a really great chapter in our lives. We will be done with foster care, and I'm hoping we can get Chris back into playing music regularly. Portland seems like a pretty good place for that! So if you know anyone down there, I could use a friend or two!
More news to come...
Chris was in a leave replacement position this school year. It was the perfect opportunity at the perfect time, and was the best experience possible for him this spring. But in our county, school jobs have dried up since most of the levees didn't pass this year. So we knew we needed to broaden our horizons. After Ethiopia, I really felt like we were ready for a change in our lives. So change, here we come!
Chris has interviewed and considered jobs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nairobi, Kenya, Mt. Vernon, WA, Hillsboro, OR, Portland, OR, and McMinnville, OR. We have explored each of these possibilities in depth, and made trips to visit each of the cities (except for Nairobi!). Chris has accepted a postion in the Portland, OR area in a large school district. It is honestly the perfect job for him. If anyone who knows him was going to design the perfect job, this one would be it. Chris spent high school in the area, so it is a bit like going home for him. I, on the other hand, don't know a single soul there besides Chris' parents. But I have to say that living close to grandparents for the very first time sounds pretty good to me!
So we have been furiously working to get our house ready to sell. And praying it will sell quickly so we can make it down there by the end of the summer. We started with Craig's list, and it'll be listed on the MLS tomorrow. We are sad because this truly was our dream house. We did as much work on the building as our skills allowed, and every shrub, grass seed, and tree was chosen by one or both of us. The kids have spent the last 3 years perfecting their biking skills on our long dirt road with a bit of a hill. It has been the best possible place to have kids, which was our intention. SO - if you know anyone looking for a beautiful, peaceful place in Whatcom County, send them to check out our place at Northwest Retreat!!!
Starting over somewhere is scary, but we are hopeful that this will be a really great chapter in our lives. We will be done with foster care, and I'm hoping we can get Chris back into playing music regularly. Portland seems like a pretty good place for that! So if you know anyone down there, I could use a friend or two!
More news to come...
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